Stumpy Tentacles on BTAs.

[Agsellers04]

My BTAs have not been extending their tentacles very far lately. They are healthy, colored, well fed and eager to take food, and well attached, but they just look a bit stumpy. I think my clown may be beating them up a bit and causing them not to extend all the way.
I have tried increasing light, decreasing light, but they just stay the same. They expel waste like they should.

Any thoughts???

 

[Agsellers04]

Note: they do extend a bit further than what these pics show, but the pics are fairly representative...

 

[Miller535]

It has been a while since I have had one. But that looks like a unhappy nem. How long have you had it, and under what lights, and what water parameters?

I can't tell if it's just the angle of the photo or not, but in the first pic it almost looks as if it's foot is not even fully attached to the rock.

 

[Agsellers04]

It is definitely attached.

The tank is 55gal and under a 48” Joyhill LED light bar, 3 12” actinic blue aluminum LED strips and 2 Bozily LED Bulbs.

Parameters:
Temp: 77-78
CACO3 Hardness: 425
Chlorine: 0
Nitrate: 10
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
Carbonate: 190
Alkalinity: 150
Ph: 8.4
Phosphate: 100ppb

 

[Agsellers04]

Oh... SG: 1.025

 

[Miller535]

I don't see anything in your water parameters that looks out of place? I am wondering how much par those lights put out? Wondering if it's not enough.

How long have you had the BTA?

 

[Agsellers04]

I have had one for three weeks and the other a month.

I have no idea how much PAR the lights put out but it seems pretty bright to me.

 

[Miller535]

I have had one for three weeks and the other a month.

I have no idea how much PAR the lights put out but it seems pretty bright to me.

BTA's take high lighting. I suspect that is your problem. And the human eye is not a good judge of how intense lighting is.

Typically people keep BTA's under a large bank of t5's, metal halides, or high output leds, which I do not think yours are.

 

[Agsellers04]

That is actually what I was thinking that I do not have enough light on them. I may just add some more light to that side of the tank and see if it helps.
Thanks for the input!

 

[laverda]

I really don’t think you have enough light. I think if you doubled the light it might be enough, but it is going to take a fair while to recover. It is hard to give anemones too much light, They do not look healthy. Also anemones like nitrate in the water and use it as a food source. I would increase your nitrates as well.

 

[Agsellers04]

Update on ol stumpy. So it seems that the Anemone likes darkness. I have noticed that it inflates at night and then deflates in the daytime when the lights are on. I moved him and his rock, which it has by the way been firmly attached to for months, into the shade. We will see how this works out. Stay tuned.